ITCM 17 - Tr4dem4rk
Inside the Competitor's Mind 17 - Tr4dem4rk The fall colors in New Hampshire were breathtaking. MizVirago and I were driving through New Hampshire to meet with tr4dem4rk for his interview. He’d asked us to meet him at a soccer field where he was refereeing for the day, and we’d agreed. We were driving around looking at the beautiful reds and golds of the autumn leaves to pass the time. I heard a soft sigh from the passenger seat and knew that MizVirago was missing her motorcycle. That had been when she and her husband used to ride. The fall weather was cool enough for the leather gear they liked to wear for riding, and they loved riding the twisting mountain roads to enjoy the fall colors. The soccer game was in the last few minutes when we arrived at the field. We settled at a bench and looked around for the referee’s jersey. “Over there,” I pointed. Then we both sat and enjoyed the view of a fine looking young man. After a moment, I muttered, “For heaven’s sake, he’s just young kid, really, and here we are ogling him.” “Just looking,” Miz grinned at me. I made a face at her. She just loved to tease me. “Hi! Darynn! Miz!” We looked up and tr4dem4rk plopped himself down next to us and offered us a bottle of water each. The game had ended while we were bickering per the usual. I looked more closely at him. He had brown hair, cut short, and blue eyes that gleamed with excitement behind a pair of glasses. “Did you have any trouble finding this place?” He was asking after he took a long swig of his water. He relaxed with a sigh after we answered in the negative. “So, the interview. I'm in my mid 20's, living here in chilly New Hampshire. I’m the oldest of a typical 3 kids with dogs family, and we live in a house with a picket fence. I’m currently working my way through college, I’m planning on being a high school teacher, despite my general dislike for school when I was in it.” He laughed heartily at the irony. “I started playing video games at an early age, I’m not entirely sure when it was but I started with Super Mario Brothers and Kirby for the Super Nintendo. That thing still works till this day. It's got a fancy engraving of my name on it and everything.” He smiled at the memory. “I liked bb1 early on, but the black market made me quit. I was f2p then and didn't rank very high. So I got into BB2 the first day it went public and the guild soon after. I think the social help and the competition really pushed it from an occasional time waster to something I can spend hours a day on. I'm not a huge fan of grinding in a game, but somehow I like that aspect here, well, most of the time! There are still rants of anger when I play.” There was a note of sheepishness in his laugh. “My ign and forum name are the same, tr4dem4rk, and I'm more of a forum lurker than arguer. I get upset when people don't listen and speak over others. I suppose that’s a teacher thing! tr4dem4rk was a nickname by a former but very fondly remembered girlfriend. I had this bracelet thing she made with it on it. Just something I kept after she moved away. Well, it broke a few times, so it’s just locked away now and no longer used. But the name stuck. I use it often. Embarrassingly enough, the fours were part of how we passed notes in math to look like work.” I was charmed by the blush that rose in his cheeks. “I'm in White Dragon Guild, mostly because dragons are wicked awesome. And seemed like a good symbol to go by. Then stayed because the people are awesome!” “As for the forum debates, I'm not a fan. I might be biased, but really think that some people make a big deal about nothing just because they can't stand to be wrong. I stay out of it whenever possible though. Otherwise, I'd get upset and probably end up saying some stupid things. It’s simpler just to not get involved.” He shrugged. “Honestly, f2p guys have my respect. Anyone who has such a glaring disadvantage and still fights is really someone who I'd want to have my back. I'm p2p though and want to keep all the advantages!” “As for leaderboards, well, I've had rough times with them, getting 51 in the jondo event and getting booted out in the last day the one before that. I can't remember, I've blocked it out because it’s too painful!” Amusement shone in his eyes. “Recently, I got a bit more focused and got to my goal on the Darax event. Getting Darax was just so sweet. I let out a dragon roar at home, and my 9 year old sister said I was weird.” He laughed. “My strategy for weekly is to ignore the leaderboard. I get whatever points I can, have a good night’s rest and do the same the next day. But the last few hours of the event is brag time! Except, don't brag too much or someone will jump 8 places in 2 hours to best you! Which is what happened to me one time.” He shook his head ruefully at his own hubris. “Dailies are a bit tougher, as they really need constant time. For those, I need to either go for rewards or to rank. If I try to rank, it’s a painful day where there's no sleeping. Work is tough after days like those! So they need to be thought through, far better than I usually do!” He chuckled. “Gauntlets are tough. I'm not really that great at team composition strategy, so usually I fail a bit on those and need advice from the genius dragons on the guild. After that’s figured out, I see what the best rewards can be and estimate if i can get them. Usually not unfortunately! So I generally farm souls off the lower levels. It helps with building the teams. “Do you like the refereeing?” I asked, waving at the soccer field. He shrugged and chuckled, “It's pretty fun and good money, but people can get very upset. I referee mostly children’s games. A few teen to adults, but those get violent occasionally and of course that means I'm not very well liked at that point. But, kids game are better, despite crazy parents. It gets bad sometimes. One tournament I got threatened. Over an eight year olds game.” He laughed, still incredulous at the inexplicable behavior. “So, you like history?” MizVirago chimed in. I had mentioned that after a conversation with tr4dem4rk. He perked up at the question, “Oh yes, especially the French Revolution! Like the issues surrounding France at the time of the revolution, I could go on forever with lots of useless... erm… I mean highly pertinent... details on it.” I grinned and said mischievously, “I don’t know anything about the French Revolution, except that Marie Antoinette didn’t actually say ‘Let them eat cake’ and the Scarlet Pimpernel didn’t exist.” “Shot through the heart!” He clasped his hands dramatically to his heart, and collapsed in laughter. And we proceeded to talk about the French Revolution for the rest of the afternoon. Category:Mizy Category:ITCM